Page 24

“No, I’ll just wear this,” Arden deadpanned.

Sam gave her a look like he wasn’t sure if she was joking.

“Yes, Sam, I’m going to need to change.”

“Okay! Right! Is it cool if I just sit out here, or do you want me to get lost for a bit?”

“Out here is fine.”

Arden shut the bedroom door and grabbed her phone from the bed. She had a few choice words in mind for Phoebe. But as soon as she turned her phone on, messages from Phoebe flooded in:

Hey, my brother is about to stop by! My fam throws a huge Hanukkah party every year and we thought you might want to go with him!

Know you don’t know anyone in town, so I thought it might be fun!

Just an idea! Probably a crazy one!

Feel free to tell him to get lost!

Arden rolled her eyes, smiling. She felt like she knew Phoebe even though they’d never met.

She replied, It’s okay. I told him I’ll go to the party with him. Thanks for looking out for me.

Ten minutes later, Arden emerged from the bedroom, wearing a black wrap dress with gold heels, shimmery eye shadow, and dark magenta lipstick. She had run a brush through her long hair and let it fall freely down her back.

Sam sprang up from the couch, and his jaw all but dropped. Arden blushed.

“I have never seen a woman get ready so fast.”

“Does this seem like the right vibe for your parents’ party?” Arden looked down at her outfit. “I’ve never been to a Hanukkah party before.”

“It is perfection,” Sam said. “Trust me.” And then he did something no one had ever done for her: He offered her his arm.

Trying and failing to hide her smile, Arden slipped her hand through his arm, grabbed her coat, and followed him out the door.

Chapter 9

Phoebe

Mission statement, check.” Phoebe literally checked off the item on a list she had titled “Digital Marketing Agency Business Plan.”

She and Jonathan had quickly realized that they were on the same page in wanting to start their own agency. They had been in all the same classes in college and gone on to similar career paths, so it made sense. It all made sense now. Phoebe had felt like something was missing ever since she’d started planning how to start her own agency. It was Jonathan. She was sure of it.

Now here they were, working through Phoebe’s notes to start crafting the actual business proposal.

“As organized as ever, I see,” Jonathan said from across the table.

“Every project has to start as a to-do list,” Phoebe said. “Otherwise, how will you know where you’re going?”

He just grinned and shook his head. They had moved inside when the darkness had become impenetrable. The campfire created a certain ambience, but it wasn’t enough light to write by.

“Trust me,” Jonathan said, “I remember getting a better grade on every project I worked on with you. You and your lists.”

“See?” Phoebe looked fondly at her list, feeling a rush of pleasure at the compliment. He wasn’t wrong. Phoebe had always been an excellent student.

“Don’t you make an outline or something before you write your screenplays?”

Jonathan’s face jerked toward her. Clearly, he hadn’t been expecting the conversation to turn toward his writing.